The only crypto to buy now as ETH and SHIB slow down

2d ago•

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As the broader crypto market begins to stabilize after months of price swings, many investors are re-evaluating their portfolios.

The focus is shifting from chasing familiar large-caps to identifying high-growth opportunities before the next wave of expansion begins.

While Ethereum (ETH) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have long been staples for many traders, both are showing signs of slowing momentum, leading analysts and investors alike to look elsewhere for potential outsized returns.

One project that this search consistently highlights is Mutuum Finance (MUTM), a new DeFi protocol.

With a rapidly progressing sale, a clear roadmap, and strong tokenomics, some analysts now view MUTM as the only crypto worth buying now before the next leg of the market cycle.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum remains the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, currently trading at around $4,007 with a total market value hovering near $490 billion.

It continues to be the backbone of decentralized finance, smart contracts, and countless blockchain applications.

However, from a price perspective, ETH is struggling to push higher. The asset is facing strong resistance around $4,260, where historical price action and moving averages converge.

This resistance has proven difficult to break, and ETH is currently sitting in a tight range between $3,950 and $4,050 support.

While Ethereum is a proven network, its sheer size makes explosive growth increasingly difficult.

To double from here, ETH would need hundreds of billions of dollars in new capital — something analysts view as a tall order in the short to mid term.

In other words, ETH may continue to play a key role in the ecosystem, but its days of delivering quick 10x returns are likely behind it.

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu, on the other hand, remains one of the most well-known meme coins.

It is currently trading at approximately $0.00001213, with an estimated market value of $7.15 billion, reflecting its significant presence in the market.

While that’s far smaller than Ethereum, SHIB has its own structural hurdles.

The token faces stiff resistance between $0.00001250 and $0.00001270, levels it has struggled to break through for months.

Its massive supply makes upward price moves extremely difficult without overwhelming demand, and repeated failures to clear resistance have created what analysts call “resistance fatigue.”

More importantly, SHIB’s value continues to rely heavily on community sentiment and speculative trading, rather than functional utility.

This reliance makes its rallies uncertain and often short-lived. While meme coins can still generate bursts of unstable prices, many investors are increasingly looking for projects with protocol-driven demand, especially during periods of market recovery.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance is a decentralized lending and borrowing protocol.

It combines pooled liquidity markets for major assets like ETH and USDT with isolated lending markets for niche tokens, enabling flexible environments for both everyday users and institutional players.

The system automatically adjusts borrowing costs based on the amount of the pool’s liquidity that users utilize, while APYs increase as activity grows, rewarding early liquidity providers.

For example, if someone supplies $8,000 worth of ETH, they can borrow up to $6,000 at a 75% Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio.

This over-collateralized structure ensures loan safety during price bursts while allowing users to continue earning yield on their supplied assets through mtTokens.

This dual-market system mirrors successful DeFi models but introduces extra flexibility — something analysts see as a major advantage heading into the next market cycle.

MUTM currently costs $0.035 in Phase 6 of its structured presale, rising from $0.01 in Phase 1, which represents nearly 300% token appreciation for the earliest buyers.

So far, the project has raised $17.4 million, attracted over 17,200 holders, and allocated 70% of Phase 6.

Once this stage sells out, the price will increase by nearly 20%, pushing closer to the planned $0.06 listing price.

3 reasons analysts say MUTM is the best crypto to invest now

1. Room to Grow vs. High Market Caps

Ethereum and Shiba Inu are both weighed down by their market caps. ETH, at nearly $490 billion, and SHIB, at over $7 billion, require massive inflows for meaningful price movement.

MUTM, meanwhile, is still at its earliest stage, giving it far more room to expand if adoption grows as expected.

2. Utility vs. Sentiment

Where SHIB relies almost entirely on community sentiment, MUTM is backed by functional utility.

The mtToken feature and buy-and-distribute mechanism use a portion of platform fees to purchase MUTM on the open market and redistribute it to stakers, creating consistent, protocol-driven demand.

3. Timing and Market Positioning

Phase 6 is already two-thirds allocated, and analysts emphasize that timing is crucial in crypto investments.

Entering before major launches often delivers the largest gains. With the Sepolia testnet launch scheduled for Q4 2025, analysts forecast MUTM could reach $0.30 post-launch, representing an over 750% increase from the current presale price of $0.035.